Vladimir Radmanovic — the man Phil Jackson called a “space cadet,” the man who coasted through games looking to jack up threes early in the shot clock — now wants the veteran leader role on the Warriors. Apparently.

The Warriors have struggled lately (something not helped by Stephen Curry’s ankle being as limp as overcooked spaghetti) and VladRad knew as a leader he needed to talk to his charges, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

“We’re struggling right now, and we need to find ways to get back to a winning streak,” Radmanovic said. “After being in the league for 10 years and playing on teams that have won and teams that have lost, I have experienced what it takes to win. Bottom line: You have to come to practice and work on aspects of your game that are not clicking…”

“Nobody likes to practice,” Radmanovic said. “We all wish we could just play in games, because that’s where it’s fun. No practice, no game. That’s the message I was trying to say to the guys.”

Don’t mind those sirens you hear, that’s just the irony alarms going off.

Just because we question if he should be the one delivering the message doesn’t mean Radmanovic is wrong, and most of his teammates agreed with his sentiment. Some more focused practices, focused on doing the little things right, might really help the Warriors. If that doesn’t work, Radmanovic can take the team snowboarding over the All Star Break.

The NBA, like the NFL, is first and foremost a business seeking profit. When confronted with social issues, from Donald Sterling to “I can’t breathe” shirts, the NBA has always kept an eye on its wallet.

With the threat of anthem protests looming, the NBA proactively met with players to head off any kneeling. That was business strategy, nothing grander.

The NFL is just trying to get to the same point with a similar policy.

But the NFL already alienated its players through the heavy-handed implementation of this policy and years of other issues. The NBA has established greater trust from its players, both by finessing them in talks about societal issues and actually standing behind them, like the Bucks did with Sterling Brown.

There are plenty of opportunities to criticize the NFL relative to the NBA. The leagues’ national-anthem policies are not a good one.

And spare me the idea that leaders trying to divide us from on high is What’s Wrong With Our Country. Centuries of racism have already divided us.

Some leaders, like Donald Trump, exploit those divisions. Other leaders talk fancifully of unity without actually reconciling what caused the divisions.

The 76ers center made just the All-NBA second team, landing behind the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis. Davis surged after Cousins went down, earning overall credit from All-NBA voters, who were also increasingly likely to view him as a center rather than just a forward.

As a result, Davis made the All-NBA first team at center – costing Embiid about $29 million over the next five years.

Embiid’s contract extension, which kicks in next season, calls for his starting salary to be 25% of the salary cap (the typical max for a player with his experience level). If he made the All-NBA first team, his starting salary would have been 30% of the salary cap .

Though the exact cap won’t be determined until July, here’s what Embiid is projected to earn on his standard max and what he could’ve earned on the super max (with 8% raises in both cases):

Obviously Embiid will still earn a lot of money, and he and Philadelphia have a bright future.

But it’s hard not to think, if Cousins didn’t get hurt, Embiid would be even richer.

HOUSTON (AP)– The Houston Rockets will wear patches on their jerseys to honor the victims of the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

The patches will read: “Santa Fe HS.” It’s one of several tributes the team plans following Friday’s shooting. Eight students and two teachers died at the school, located 30 miles from downtown Houston.

The school’s high school choir will perform the national anthem. There will be a moment of silence and a video tribute before tipoff.

Santa Fe’s senior class and administrators have been invited to attend the game as guests of owner Tilman Fertitta. The Rockets also will honor first responders on the court.